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Local police say dealing with ICE in criminal cases is rare

By Melissa Hanson, mhanson@lowellsun.com

Updated:
03/28/2016 12:55:52 PM EDT

LOWELL -- In January, as Lowell police arrested a man on motor-vehicle charges, they discovered he was an illegal immigrant wanted for the murder of a Dominican Republic police officer, and had previously been deported and illegally re-entered the country.

It was the only such incident so far this year in Lowell. But questions about how police departments respond to arrests of illegal immigrants have risen since Framingham police earlier this month arrested four men on assault charges and found they were also illegal immigrants.

In fact, at least two of the suspects had previously been arrested in the U.S., and no notification had been made to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to the Boston Herald.

Prosecutors last week dropped the charges against the four Guatemalan men, Elmer Diaz, 19; Ariel Diaz, 24; Adan Diaz, 32; and Marlon Josue Jarquin-Felipe, 27, after new evidence changed the investigation. The men were not released, and federal immigration officials will decide their next steps.

Framingham police did not return a call seeking comment.

ICE does not comment on policies of state and local partners, according to spokesman Daniel Modricker, but does have policies explained in its Priority Enforcement Program.

Enforcement and removal policies in general should prioritize threats to national security, public safety or border security, according to documents from the Department of Homeland Security.

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But the department cannot respond to all immigration violations, or remove every illegal immigrant from the country, DHS said.

Lowell Police Capt. Timothy Crowley said that unless a case involves a serious felony, police do not specifically ask a suspect's legal status.

Crowley said what usually happens is that when booking a person and running his or her fingerprints, a hit will come up on the computer system if there is an ICE detainer. He said that in those situations, ICE is notified and the suspect is held until the next court date. After being arraigned on local charges, the suspect is then turned over to ICE.

Crowley said it is not an official policy, but a practice followed by many police agencies.

"If the Police Department is investigating a serious crime and there is any information or speculation that the person is here illegally, we will take more proactive steps to make that determination," he said.

Updates on the case of Ramon Aguasviva-Mejia, the immigrant arrested by Lowell police in January, were not immediately available. He was previously arrested in Lowell in September, but when his fingerprints were scanned during that arrest, there were no hits in the national database.

"We don't deal with this a lot," said Fitchburg Deputy Chief Paul Bozicas. "Very few times we've had to deal with notifying ICE."

Like in Lowell, Bozicas said Fitchburg police do not necessarily ask suspects their legal status.

"Every time they get fingerprinted, that let's us know if there is a record outside of Massachusetts," he said. "At times we have notified ICE and at times we have been notified by ICE that there is a detainer on someone."

Bozicas said that legal status sometimes can make people afraid to go to police, especially if they are victims of domestic violence.

"We want to encourage them to come forward," he said.

ICE has a victim-assistance program that ensures victims of crimes will have the information and assistance they need during the criminal-justice process, Modricker said. There are also nonimmigrant statuses for victims of human trafficking and other crimes.

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